Plankton get their dues

Scientists have predicted that climate change will continue to deplete nutrients in the world's oceans, which will reduce how much carbon dioxide is absorbed.

Enter the mighty plankton.

Turns out, in relation to the amount of available nutrients, ocean plankton are removing carbon dioxide – a major driver of climate change – at twice the rate than originally thought.

That means a nearly 80-year-old study by Alfred Redfield, used by most scientists today to understand the biochemistry of the oceans, needs an update.

"We'll have to rewrite some textbooks," said Adam Martiny, associate professor of Earth System Science and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at UC Irvine, who led the research team.

WHAT ARE PLANKTON?

Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that perform the same task as plants and trees, but they do their job in the ocean. They grow with sunlight, carbon dioxide and nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen).

Zooplankton eat what the phytoplankton produce.

Plankton are highly underrated, Martiny said. "They're equally important as plants for how the world works," he said.

The smallest phytoplankton in the ocean, the Prochlorococcus, absorb more carbon dioxide than all of the trees in North America.

The team discovered planktons' increased capacity to absorb carbon dioxide by collecting and analyzing the world's ocean water.

REDFIELD OUT, UCI IN

In 1934, Redfield came up with the Redfield Ratio, which says the concentration of carbon dioxide to nitrogen to phosphorus in the ocean is the same ratio seen in ocean plankton.

Redfield's ratio of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus was fixed for the world's oceans at 106:16:1.

"Instead of the fixed ratio, we found variation with latitude," Martiny said.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.